Wilbur was not so harsh, and said his favorite scene was between the landman and a struggling farmer. “As they sit across the kitchen table, the farmer—a hardworking and earnest family man struggling to preserve his way of life against the flow of economic forces—clearly knows why Butler has come, and he implores Butler to say what he wants to hear. Butler, a little surprised at how easy this all is, obliges: ‘You could be a millionaire.’ The farmer’s reaction is what I find compelling. No words, but only a look of humble sincerity and raw hope that I found heart rending.”

“Promised Land” opened in New York, Los Angeles and a few other cities on December 28, and opens nationwide on January 4.